H.S. Baseball playoffs: Mind games await strong New Bedford squad

Wednesday

May 30, 2012 at 12:01 AMMay 30, 2012 at 12:03 AM

He's not worried about the physical part of his team's makeup. It's the mental portion that has New Bedford High School baseball coach John Seed shaking his head just a bit as the Whalers prepare to enter the Eastern Massachusetts South Sectional Tournament.

Buddy Thomas

He's not worried about the physical part of his team's makeup. It's the mental portion that has New Bedford High School baseball coach John Seed shaking his head just a bit as the Whalers prepare to enter the Eastern Massachusetts South Sectional Tournament.

"Physically, we're fine," Seed said. "We're healthy, we've gotten good pitching from our number one and two starters, and we've hit enough to average five or six runs a game. If we can just go out there, keep our composure and play our game, I think we have a chance to compete with anyone."

The 13-7 Whalers are ranked 11th in the 17-school Division 1 seedings and begin postseason play at 7 p.m. Saturday at No. 6 Norwood (15-5).

Javier Lozada (6-1) and Jon Finnerty (5-1) combined for 11 of the team's 13 wins during the regular season and either one could get the starting nod in the tournament opener.

"They're different kind of pitchers and, unless I know something about the team we'll be playing, I probably won't decide on the starter until (today's) practice," Seed said. Both Lozada and Finnerty are senior right-handers with Lozada the harder thrower. "I wouldn't be afraid to start either one against any opponent, but if we happened to have played our first-round opponent and know a little about their offensive strengths and weaknesses, I might be inclined to make a decision based upon that."

Whichever one doesn't start will likely play third base and not be used in relief in the opener.

"Ideally, I'd like to use Mike (Rapoza) in that role because I believe he can be effective. But we have other people we can come in with. If we win, I'll need a starter for game two, and that will be whichever one doesn't start in the opener," Seed said.

The Whalers come into the tournament having lost their last two games — to Brockton (7-5) and St. John's of Shrewsbury (9-3) — and both Lozada and Finnerty suffered their first and only setbacks of the regular season in their last, respective, decisions.

"We're kind of limping in (to the tournament) but both Javier and Jon pitched well (Lozada lost to Brockton; Finnerty to Taunton) and we've been scoring runs," Seed said. "A couple of bad innings defensively and some mental mistakes proved costly but, all in all, we've been playing pretty well."

In an effort to beef up the pitching staff, Quinn Indio was brought up from the jayvees a couple of weeks ago and has not allowed an earned run in 12 of the 13 innings he's worked. Despite taking the loss against St. John's, J.T. Sylvia has pitched well in middle relief and could be used in that role during the tournament.

Offensively, there isn't a lot of power in the Whalers' lineup, although a handful of players have managed to hit home runs including Rapoza, who belted a 425-foot blast earlier in the year. The switch-hitting junior leads the team in average (.444), while hitting out of the fourth spot in the order. Every hitter — one through nine — has a knack for making contact including freshman Chandler Debrosse, who opened the season as a light-hitting, ninth-in-the-order shortstop, but finished with a .328 average while hitting mostly in the second spot.

"I haven't looked at who we might play or where we might play them. To me, it really doesn't matter," Seed said. "It's just a matter of staying focused, keeping our composure and play the way we're capable of playing."

The Whalers are one of six area baseball teams in the tournament, joining Dartmouth in Division 1. Wareham, Bishop Stang, Apponequet and Fairhaven are all in Division 3.

Dartmouth and Fairhaven will play in preliminary-round games on Friday — the Indians on the road and Blue Devils at home. Dartmouth is seeded last in the 17-school Division 1 field and will travel to No. 16 Attleboro (11-9), while Fairhaven (10-10) is seeded 15th in Division 3 and will host No. 18 Canton (7-13). Both Friday games begin at 4. Should Fairhaven and Dartmouth win on Friday, they would play again on Saturday, the Indians traveling to top-seeded Franklin (18-2) and Fairhaven visiting No. 2 Bellingham (16-4) in 3 p.m. contests.

Coach: Bob Lomp

Record: 11-5

Seed: No. 8 in Div. 3

First round opponent: Home to No. 9 Rockland (13-7), Saturday at 3 p.m.

Outlook: If DePippo is on his game, the Lakers can match up with anyone and with Fickert in the No. 2 spot, pitching doesn't appear to be a problem. The offense, however, is another story. Although the bats are solid throughout the lineup, the run production has been inconsistent and pitching has been forced to carry the Lakers from time to time. Defense has also been uneven but if they can get it together, the Lakers have a chance to go deep into the tournament.

Coach: Jay Pacheco

Record: 14-6

Seed: No. 7 in Div. 3

First round opponent: Home to No. 10 Seekonk (11-7), Saturday at 3 p.m.

Outlook: Only Coyle-Cassidy stood in the way of an Eastern Athletic Conference championship in Pacheco's first season as head coach and nobody is doubting the Spartans have a chance to do some damage in postseason play. The pitching is solid with Winterhalter, Zack Bernier and Proulx leading the way and with the consistency of Sullo and emergence of Luc Sauve, Matt Farnworth and Jack Murphy as hitters, the offense is solid from top to bottom. Defense is the biggest concern. If the Spartans can catch the ball, they appear to have enough pitching and hitting to win at least a couple of games in the postseason.

Outlook: A pair of "must wins" down the stretch of the regular season enabled the Indians to punch their ticket to the post season and the team's road show begins Friday night with a game at Attleboro. Fournier is the likely starter in this one and, if the big righthander gets any offensive support at all, the Tribe has a good chance of advancing to the first round game — Saturday afternoon at No. 1 seed Franklin. It's a tough schedule but coach McDermott's crew knocked off some tough opponents during the regular season (New Bedford and Coyle-Cassidy twice), just to name a few, so who's to say they can't keep it going.

Outlook: Baldwin is the biggest gun in the Devils' rack — both on the mound and with the bat. The junior can start, but his effectiveness is measured by his ability to come in and get the save in close-game situations. He also leads the team in most power stats and, normally, makes contact on a regular basis. Coach Bulgar has gotten timely contributions from a number of underclassmen, namely catcher Carlos Rivera, outfielder Drew Wethington and infielder Cam Charette and the pitching (Lessa, Baldwin and Ryan Magano) has been better than advertised.

Outlook: The Whalers have a pair of excellent starting pitchers in Lozada and Finnerty and boast a solid offense, one through nine, led by the clean-up-hitting Rapoza. Barring upsets, however, the Whalers will have to play all tournament games away from Walsh Field which may or may not work in their favor. Of the seven losses during the regular season, coach Seed's team lost five at home.

Coach: David Harrison

Record: 14-6

Seed: No. 4 in Div. 3

First round opponent: Home to No. 13 Westwood (12-8), Saturday at 3 p.m.

Outlook: The Vikings have been playing solid baseball after a 3-3 start, winning 11 of their final 14 games and finished second in the South Coast Conference. This is the first trip to the postseason in coach Harrison's third and final season as head coach and this team has the potential to pull off a few surprises. Searles has rebounded from a slow start and has pitched brilliantly over the second half of the regular season and Conway appears to be over the arm problem that plagued him just past the midway point. The offense — solid to begin with — has received a jolt from Brandon Mello who has delivered key hits from the lower part of the order and the defense has been pretty solid all year.